A few hours around Hatchet Pond in the New FOREST
Bumble Bees on Water Lillie flowers. Thought I would try some in-flight shots.
There are 24 different species of bumblebee in the UK.
Canada Geese with just 1 gosling.
Lillie pads.
Countryside UK
Hot Day.
An early start up on the South Downs before the sun gets too high, especially as it looked like we had another hot day ahead, with some good light early as well for photographs.
Yellowhammers were fairly abundant before it got too hot. The yellowhammer is a passerine bird in the bunting family; it is a bird of farmland.
Brown Hares.
Red Legged Partridge.
Baby Rabbits.
Red Kite.
Crow.
Little things.
Little things spotted at Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve while on a Sunday morning walk.
Alder Beetle – mating pair.
Large Red damselfly.
Common Lizard enjoying some sun.
I believe this is a Little Reed Beetle.
Azure Damselfly {male}.
Bee.
Something a bit larger.
Picked up a Mute Swan egg on the path.
Return.
After Thursday’s visit to Swanick Lakes, we returned today for a longer walk. The site is 36 hectares.
Clay has been extracted in the area since the late 19th century, with the first pit dug on the site in 1948. When extraction finished in 1974, woodland developed over much of the reserve.
I filmed a Great Crested Grebe on a lake. The interesting part was when the bird spotted an insect, likely a dragonfly, and caught it, which I had never seen before. It was also nice to film how the bird lowers its crest before diving.
Lake side.
A short visit to Swanwick Lanes this afternoon, Swanwick Lakes, once clay pits for a Burseldon Brickworks, now a mixture of woodland, lakes and meadows. A nature reserve managed by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust since 1991.
Grey Heron.
Coot.
Canada Goose.
Greylag.
Moorhen.
Face to face.
A couple of close encounters on this morning’s walk.
Kestrel.
Perched high in an oak tree, this Kestrel is a male bird; males have blue-grey heads and tails with a single black band, while females are brown overall with barred tails.
Tuffted Ducks.
Tuffted Ducks are a diving duck and a bit smaller than a Mallard. This pair were on North Pond at Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire.
English Bluebells.
In spring, bluebells create a stunning blue carpet in woodlands across the UK, Almost half the world’s bluebells are found in the UK – they’re relatively rare elsewhere.
Siskins.
These small, brightly coloured birds are said to be a common sight in UK woodland, although I rarely see them! I spotted this pair in the early evening in one of the New Forest car parks, where people regularly feed birds, but everyone had gone home, and some seeds were on one of the poles. The Blue Tits and Great Tits had also gone, so these Siskins came in.
Continued Reflections from my World. 